An Interview with Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, & Kezii Curtis from ‘Hysteria!’

HYSTERIA! -- "The Satanic Panic" Episode 101 -- Pictured: (l-r) Emjay Anthony as Dylan, Kezii Curtis as Spud, Chiara Aurelia as Jordy -- (Photo by: Daniel Delgado/PEACOCK)

Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, and Kezii Curtis are a trio of rising stars in Hollywood, and currently they star as Dylan, Jordy and Spud in the new Peacock series, Hysteria! And we recently sat down with all of them to dicuss their magnificent new show!
 
John Betancourt:  I'd love to start by getting to know what it was that attracted you as actors to this particular project.
 
Emjay Anthony: Well, John, one of the things that really, you know, drew me to this role was just the 80s, you know, it’s such an iconic time period. You look a little too young to have been there, but it was, I hear it was really cool, you know, the music and the clothes and everything about it's just so iconic. So, we're very blessed to be able to experience that.
 
Chiara Aurelia: I think there were such multi-dimensional characters, and the show was really exciting, and it covered a lot of different genres. Also, it totally kept me on the edge of my seat when I was reading it. So, I hope that it will do the same for the audience that's watching it.
 
Kezii Curtis: I hope the audience is like properly restrained for the you know, internal dialogue roller coaster that every character goes on throughout the season. I think it's one of the most exciting parts about the script that drew me to it. But I really think after seeing it, and we all like doing our job it, the proof is in the pudding. I think is a really good show.
 
John Betancourt: Fun fact. I am indeed old enough, because I grew up in the 80s, and that's what I appreciated most about all your performances. They feel like people that I knew back then, when I was a young lad. And I'm curious how each of you as actors sold that authenticity, because you really tapped into the, just the zeitgeist of the era.
 
Emjay Anthony: Thank you. I love the 80s, you know, like the music and stuff, and it's just, like I said, so iconic. So, it was definitely, I feel like, I don't want to say easy for me, but like I said, I did know a lot about the 80s, so it wasn't too hard of a transition to kind of go into that. One of the main things was just not saying, like, some slang words, you know, or, like, we weren't allowed to give fist bumps, you know, because apparently, there's no fist bumps in the 80s. Just like a couple of little things like that were a little, uh, tricky, yeah, definitely.
 
Chiara Aurelia: I think that there was a -- we wanted to, you know, keep the 80s core alive. And I think there's so much nostalgia about the 80s, and watching movies from the 80s, and listening to music, it kind of transports you to a different time. We were hoping that our show could do the same. So, I think we all made sure to do our research as much as we possibly could to make sure that we were authentically representing 1989.
 
Kezii Curtis: Yeah, they pretty much nailed it on the head there. It was all just it was an excuse for me, because given I also love the 80s, just like if I saw a movie reference, I thought was funny, I'd be like, “Did that make sense for the time that the show takes place in?” So, it was just really cool to build a database and actually like… use it.
 
John Betancourt: I'm actually kind of curious too, because, I mean, you've all spoken about how nostalgic time it is, and how much, how much you admire in that respect. Why do you each think that this the 80s and, like, the style of 80s horror movies resonate so well with audiences now?
 
Emjay Anthony: I think probably because it was, they were the first people to do it, you know, like at that time, it hadn't really been done before, you know. So, it kind of set the precedent for, you know, nowadays, and we're still kind of copying a lot of, you know, greatness from that era.
 
Chiara Aurelia: I think that there's a lot of nostalgia that lives in all of us in terms of our memories. And I think that it's nice to be able to give people a bit of a teleportation device to remind them of a feeling that they experienced at a different time in their life. And I think that film and movies hopefully are capturing an experience or a feeling, and you can go back, and you can rewatch them and relisten to certain music, and it kind of helps you close your eyes and remember what it felt like to be 16 years old. So, I think that we're hopefully remaking things and making new content today that's providing that same like, nostalgic je ne sais quoi, and hopefully it's just, you know, pulling audiences in and getting them really excited and also making people feel something.
 
Kezii Curtis: I think, hopefully, that's the goal of movie magic to piggyback off what Chiara said. You know, our job as actors is to make the show or the movie real, and that was all we planned to do. And bringing this authenticity of a time that is so beloved in so many people's hearts, it would be a disservice to do it wrong.
 
John Betancourt: The last question that I have for each of you today, if you had to describe this series in a single word, what would that word be?
 
Emjay Anthony: It's two words, must watch.
 
Chiara Aurelia: Wait, I have to think of a good one. Hold on.
 
Emjay Anthony: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?
 
Chiara Aurelia: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
 
Kezii Curtis: Great word. I’m gonna go with… insanity.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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